Several websites have been shuit down after a credit card harvesting operation was discovered.

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Several websites which were purportedly selling extremely cheap airline tickets have been shut down by authorities after it was discovered that the sites purely existed to phish credit card details.

Panda Software a California based software seller has revealed that the phishing scam differs from mainstream scams in that consumers find the phishing site themselves, often through search engines.

Once the consumer clicks on the site, the user is taken to a form-filling page where they are asked to fill out a form requiring personal details including their credit card number and other credit card details. Once submitted the form states that the transaction did not complete and an error was encountered and the consumer is provided with details on how to pay for the tickets by money order.

Luis Correns, director of the company's research laboratory said, "it's actually the buyer, in searching for the best prices online, who goes to the fraudulent web page. This creates a false sense of security that can lead users to proceed with the transaction."

Other similar phishing scam sites were expected to be reported shortly Corrons stated. Online consumers are to be aware of sites offering knock-down priced goods which clearly could not be sold at such prices. "Treat bargains with suspicion," was his message.